German & books

 Sorry I haven't been updating. I've been busy! Ich war beschäftigt!

I'm in week 6 (I think) of my 10-week full-time German course. It's going great. I think I have a good chance of a 2/2 on the DLPT and maybe a 1+ on the OPI. 

Books-wise, I've been reading. Still a good 2-3 books behind schedule, but catching up. Some of the books I've read recently:

Refuse to Choose, by Barbara Sher. I learned I'm a scanner. Some say fickle, but really, I have many interests, and I love learning new things, getting as much info on the subject as I feel I need, then move on. This book had great ideas, albeit some of it is old, but still worth it. Fast read.

Smiley's People, by John LeCarre. Another great one. I'm going to be sad when I've read all of his. RIP, Mr. LeCarre.

Havana Bay, by Martin Cruz Smith. Arkady Renko #4. One of the best. Not sure if I like this one or the one on the fishing boat the best. But every single Renko is great. Why didn't they keep making the movies? I would have loved seeing William Hurt play him in more films.

The Big Sleep. Noir par excellence. Family book club choice by my SIL. Fantastic. Never saw the movie, but now I must. 

Is that a Fish in your Ear, by David Bellos. A book about translation. I've recently gotten interested in literary translation. This book really gives you an inside look into the job, as well into traditional translation jobs, like those superstars at the UN.

Why Translation Matters, by Edith Grossman. Ms. Grossman translated Don Quixote, and I will say now and will always say: her translation is the BEST translation out there. This book, though, is okay. Her politics came up a few times in the book, which was unnecessary. Still, important book on translation. 

The City & the City, by China Mieville. This was my choice for the family book club and, well, to put it modestly, I ROCK! What a great read. I've only read his The Last Days of New Paris, which was so weird and well written, I knew I had to read more of him. This book, City, was a detective story, and so well done and I'm still debating some things about the two cities in the book. Unsure which Mieville I'm going to read next.

White Noise, by Don DeLillo. I loved his Zero K, or whatever it was called. This one was good, and of course well-written, but oh so concerned about death, and the character in the book is a couple years younger than me, so...uh, get over it.

Wheat that Springeth Green, by JF Powers. I read his only other novel, Morte D'Urban, which was awesome. This one, too, was great. What is it about stories about priests that I like so much? Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory. I'd put Powers' novel up there with Greene.

And finally, in prep for L-R'ing German, I read Harry Potter #2 (Chamber of Secrets). Just finished that today and will start the German-version probably tonight or tomorrow. 

Damn...been a while since I've updated you guys! 

Tonight I'm starting In the Mountains of Madness by Lovecraft, for the #1936Club, which started today. My wife loves Lovecraft, and I've only read one story of his, so reading this one will double how great of a husband I am.